Metronome-like technology has recently been shown to help children with attention problems improve their attention, learning, motor planning and sequencing capabilities. Likewise, metronome-like technology has recently been shown to facilitate athletic training, the technology being useful in helping athletes develop pacing for track and field type events and rhythm for swinging of golf clubs and the like. Unfortunately, the foregoing uses have heretofore relied upon traditional type metronomes, which are limited to providing an audio or visual output signal. As a result, because in many athletic or therapy environments audio cannot be heard and visual attention may not be diverted, the athlete or patient has been required to essentially study a pattern and, thereafter, attempt to mimic the pattern absent direct input from the metronome. Furthermore, in sporting and other venues auditory outputs may be wholly inappropriate due to the distraction caused to others.
It is therefore an overriding object of the present invention to improve over the prior art by providing a programmable metronome with a tactile output that is compact and rugged in implementation such that an athlete or patient may readily wear and utilize the metronome during actual practice for an athletic event or actual conduct of a physical therapy. Additionally, it is an object of the present invention to provide such a tactile metronome that is provided with a compact transducer for easy affixation to an athlete in training. It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a transducer that is highly effective in producing tactile stimulations, such that even an athlete undergoing strenuous physical activity may readily perceive and differentiate tactile stimuli produced by the metronome of the present invention. Still further, it is an object of the present invention to provide such a tactile metronome that is economical to manufacture, easy to use and widely programmable to a variety of complex output rhythms and/or patterns.